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What About Women?

Women Victims of Sexual Harassment and Rape in Today's Society

By Liliana TPublished 6 years ago 4 min read
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Before I start I want to say a disclaimer: women aren’t the only ones who are being raped and there are cases of men who are raped and sexual assaulted. However, in this article, I will be referring to women as the victims.

Recently, a lot of accusations have been coming up in the news about politicians and people in the entertainment business raping and sexually assaulting women. And according to some, rape is “on the rise” when in reality, there has always been many cases of rape, it just wasn’t as heard of until now.

I read a tweet not too long ago, which I won’t mention who the author was nor the exact words they used, however, I will say that the person who wrote it was male. The tweet read something along the lines of: “Men are getting accused of rape left and right. We now have to look over our shoulder. We don’t know who’ll be next.” I think this tweet is ridiculous because it’s not like innocent men are being attacked for no reason. Oh wait... that sounds familiar. That’s right! It’s because women are. It’s women who have to change their lifestyles and take extra precautions to ensure their safety. WE are the ones looking over our shoulders. Men: if you are a decent human being who hasn’t assaulted anyone or doesn’t plan on it, then you are good. The men being accused are because they are guilty.

But this isn’t the first time in rape history that women have been blamed for their misfortune. Whenever a woman gets attacked and asks for help they are always questioned as if they were the perpetrator. “What were you wearing?” “How much did you have to drink?” “Did you say no?” “How did you say no? And how many times did you say it?” Don’t you think it’s ridiculous that the VICTIM is being criticized for living their life and minding their own business? Because of the fear of being sexually attacked, women don’t go to bad areas, walk alone at night, or wear whatever they want anymore in fear of being sexualized. Because that is what we are taught as little girls. We’re taught that we should always travel in packs, not to talk to strangers, not wear short shorts and skirts, and to cover up around men. Should we be teaching our young this? And as young ladies, we’re taught that our brother can be out as long as he wants because he is a man and can take care of himself but we have to be home by dark because we could get raped. We’re taught to never let someone get us a drink at a party or club because it could be laced with a date rape drug. Always get your own drink. Never let your drink out of sight.

My belief is that while you can do everything you can as a woman, to try to prevent a horrible event such as rape, if it is in someone’s plans to rape you, no amount of steps taken will prevent it. We must change our views as a society. It can happen because it has before. If everyone can change their views on slavery and women suffrage, then victim blaming can also be changed.

As of now, there are strict dress codes in elementary, middle, and high schools all over the country for girls to supposedly “avoid indecency in young girls.” If this is the reason, then I agree that girls should be taught to be decent. What I don’t agree with, however, is the fact that some of the dress codes are unreasonable and are in place for the wrong reasons. Some schools require shorts and skirts to be no shorter than arms length, meaning that if girls put their arms straight down the side of their legs and their shorts are shorter than the tip of their fingers, they are in trouble. Many retails don’t sell long shorts anymore because the style right now is short shorts. And it is unreasonable to ban wearing shorts for girls because in some places the summers get really hot and long pants aren’t going to cut it. Another unreasonable rule is the fight against spaghetti straps. The real reason for these dress codes is that it’s a “distraction to others.” And by others they mean boys. Instead of teaching girls how not to get raped, we should be teaching boys how to be respectful and how to control themselves and not rape.

Sexual assault is categorized as a violent crime in the American criminal justice system along with murder and robbery. So it should be treated like one. Telling girls to take steps like not wearing revealing clothes and not drinking alcohol to prevent from being assaulted is like telling people to not own or carry any valuables or nice clothing to prevent from being robbed. It’s absurd. While it is good to take some precautions in order to avoid being murdered, robbed, or sexually assaulted, it is never okay to blame the victim for it instead of the perpetrator. Rape is a really violent crime and it’s never the victims fault. Instead of throwing all the burden onto girls, we must teach our boys to respect everyone and never engage in any sort of sexual misconduct. The victim is never at fault.

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